Jul 5, 2008

york trip...

day one - june 8
packed up the bike in the morning and made our way up to manassas. as instructed we called father-in-law to let him know we were leaving. he would be leaving soon as well and call us when he was in position - where ever and when ever that might be...



i had daughter on the back of the bike with wife and left over kids in the chase vehicle... it was a hot day which made for a longer ride. still, i would prefer to be on the bike in the heat than in a cage...



trying to catch up to father-in-law was interesting to say the least. between crappy/non-existent cell phone reception, father-in-law moving locations and no communication between the bike and chase vehicle, it was an adventure. he was in at least two different locations, trying to find the perfect location.



it ended up being at a burger king in orange. luckily before we passed it. after grabbing some grub, we headed the rest of the way up to maanssas.

day two - june 9
the final leg up to york... we decided to leave mid-morning, between the morning rush hour and the heat of the day. if all goes well, we could miss traffic in the larger cities and get to york around noon, before the heat of the day hits.



we loaded up the bikes and headed out...




trip went pretty good, mostly back roads and not too much traffic... until we got to leesburg. unfortunately our timing was off a little and we managed to spend about thirty minutes in stop and go traffic. might not sound like much, but when it's already warm outside and you're sitting on an idling engine, it's not what you might call comfortable.



after getting out of traffic and up the road a little, we decided to make our first stop for refreshments. a welcome break...




second half of the trip was uneventful. we arrived at the best western in york. i think we were all happy to get there, out of the heat and into some air conditioning...




after checking in and unloading, we wandered out for some food. leaving the bikes parked and opting to walk, figuring it might be a tad cooler than riding...



a recommendation from the check-in girls lead us to the westgate restaurant and lounge.




unfortunately the 'free' and 'beer' weren't associated other than being on the same pane of glass...




a nice looking diner that i wanted to try - apparently no one else was interested...




in the evening, daughter and i decided to go for a ride. i think the others were still a bit worn out from the ride up. besides, this would give daughter and i a chance to hang out - it was her trip anyway...



not sure where to go, we decided to head to laugerman's, the nearest hd dealer. i plug the location into my gps and off we go...



while a gps is a great too and very handy to have, it's not perfect. and for some reason, the gps decided to route us around every back alley street between us and the dealership. using a conventional paper map, i could have plotted a direct route to the dealership taking us all of maybe three miles. but the gps chose a route for us that was no less than ten miles.



most of the time, this would have been less than ideal. and i was getting kind of frustrated because i knew there was a shorter route. but sometimes taking the wrong turn can lead to greater benefits. in our case, we stumbled upon prospect hill cemetary and quite a site it was...




we finally made it to laugerman's about thirty minutes before they closed - one of the few dealerships that are actually open late. i imagine it has something to do with the proximity to the factory.




we wandered around the dealership, looking at t-shirts and talking them out of a screw-it bandanna. we discovered the dealership has little collection, museum as they like to call it, of vintage and collector bikes. an impressive collection...




after leaving the dealership, we took a little ride around york, looking for the twisty little roads we didn't find on the ride up. or at least a cooler ride we could enjoy. it was a nice ride and a great way to end the day...

day three - june 10
got up, grabbed some breakfast, packed up the bikes and headed to the factory to take on a tour. reading the literature, it sounded like we needed to get there very early in order to have a chance at taking a tour. i wasn't about to miss my opportunity and planned to be pulling the bike into the parking lot as they opened the doors.




once the doors opened, we got our tickets for the first available tour. we wandered around the visitor center, checking out displays and just had some fun...




all the pieces needed to assemble a 2008 road king classic




part of the manufacturing process - from sheet metal to final product...




a couple other artifacts from the museum/visitor center. this is the bike vaughn l. beals was given when harley was purchased from amf.
waiting for the movie to begin before the tour... no picture taking on the tour...




after the factory tour, a quick stop by laugerman's for father-in-law and son to check out... always making memories...




then the trip home... despite the heat, we decided to take the longer route home, figuring heading through the mountains might make for a cooler ride. as well as the fact we'd hit slightly more twisty roads.



the ride longer ride through the mountains were certainly welcome. but we did pay the price when we had to stop on the hot asphalt for about fifteen minutes for road construction. even shutting the bikes off wasn't much relief.



once we got moving again, twisting through the mountains, the misery of sitting in the heat was quickly forgotten.



we made what we thought was our final stop in berkeley springs for an icy treat.




once we got moving again, the skies got dark and the rain clouds rolled in. one final stop to put on the rain gear. we decided to press on in the rain, as long as we could safely see in front of us.



the rain never did get bad enough to stop us. and as i've been discovering in the last few journeys in the rain, i actually like riding in the rain. not that i would chose it over riding on a sunny day, but i wouldn't not ride simply because it's raining...



we finally pulled back into manassas. another great end to a great ride.



looking back, i really enjoy riding with my father-in-law. i'm glad we can share these adventures and journeys. i hope we are able to put on many more miles together. and having the kids with us made the trip that much more special...



check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in  green ...